Improved ultrastructural preservation of rat ciliary body after high pressure freezing and freeze substitution: a perspective view based upon comparison with tissue processed according to a conventional protocol or by osmium tetroxide/microwave fixation

Ultrastructure of sea urchin calcified tissues after high-pressure freezing and freeze substitution

The improvements brought by high-pressure freezing/freeze substitution fixation methods to the ultrastructural preservation of echinoderm mineralized tissues are investigated in developing pedicellariae and teeth of the echinoid Paracentrotus lividus. Three freeze substitution (FS) protocols were tested: one in the presence of osmium tetroxide, one in the presence of uranyl acetate, and the last in the presence of gallic acid. FS in the presence of osmium tetroxide significantly improved cell ultrastructure preservation and should especially be used for ultrastructural studies involving vesicles and the Golgi apparatus. With all protocols, multivesicular bodies, suggested to contain Ca(2+), were evident for the first time in skeleton-forming cells. FS in the presence of gallic acid allowed us to confirm the structured and insoluble character of a part of the organic matrix of mineralization in the calcification sites of the tooth, an observation which modifies the current understanding of biomineralization control in echinoderms.

Ultrastructure of the echinoderm cuticle after fast-freezing/freeze substitution and conventional chemical fixations

The cuticles of the pedicellaria primordia in the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus and of the tube foot disk in the sea star Asterias rubens were preserved by different methods, viz., glutaraldehyde fixation followed by osmium tetroxide postfixation, glutaraldehyde-ruthenium red fixation followed by osmium tetroxide-ruthenium red postfixation, and two fast freezing / freeze substitution methods (FF/FS). The gross ultrastructure of the cuticle as well as the influence of the preservation method on this ultrastructure were identical for the two tissues studied. The cuticle ultrastructure was poorly preserved after glutaraldehyde fixation / osmium tetroxide postfixation. Its preservation was improved after ruthenium red was added in the fixative and postfixative, but the best preservation was consistently achieved using FF/FS. Both low-pressure freezing (plunge freezing) and high-pressure freezing were tested, the latter giving seemingly better results. With these methods, the cuticle appeared to be composed of a proximal lower cuticle, an intermediate upper cuticle, and a distal fuzzy coat. In particular, cryoimmobilization methods emphasized or revealed the occurrence of a well-developed fibrillar lower cuticle in the pedicellaria, the complexity of the upper cuticle which consisted of several zones, and the importance of the usually poorly preserved fuzzy coat that is actually the thickest layer of the cuticle. These observations bring new insights on the functions of the cuticle, and particularly of the fuzzy coat. According to its preservation characteristics, the fuzzy coat presumably consists mostly of proteoglycans. This composition could give it shock absorption and antifouling properties. Furthermore, its important thickness also implies that molecules detected by the short sensory cilia must diffuse through and could be selected by the fuzzy coat.

Dynamics and ultrastructure of developmental cell fusions in the Caenorhabditis elegans hypodermis

Cell fusions produce multinucleate syncytia that are crucial to the structure of essential tissues in many organisms [1-5]. In humans the entire musculature, much of the placenta, and key cells in bones and blood are derived from cell fusion. Yet the developmental fusion of cell membranes has never been directly observed and is poorly understood. Similarity between viral fusion proteins and recently discovered cellular proteins implies that both cell-cell and virus-cell fusion may occur by a similar mechanism [6-8]. Paradoxically, however, fusion of enveloped viruses with cells involves an opening originating as a single pore [9-11], whereas electron microscopy studies of cell-cell fusion describe simultaneous breakdown of large areas of membrane [12, 13]. Here, we have shown that developmental cell fusion is indeed consistent with initiation by a virus-like, pore-forming mechanism. We examined live cell fusions in the epithelia of Caenorhabditis elegans embryos by a new method that integrates multiphoton, confocal, and electron microscopy. The fusion aperture always originated at a single point restricted to the apical adherens junction and widened slowly as a radial wavefront. The fusing membranes dispersed by vesiculation, rather than simple unfolding of the conjoined double bilayer. Thus, in these cells fusion appears to require two specialized sequential processes: formation of a unique primary pore and expansion of the opening by radial internalization of the interacting cell membranes.

Improved preservation of the subepidermal extracellular matrix in axolotl embryos using electron microscopical techniques based on cryoimmobilization

The purpose of this metholdological survey was to find optimal methods for the fixation and demonstration of glycosaminoglycans, mainly hyaluronan, and proteoglycans, in subepidermal extracellular matrix (ECM) regions of axolotl embryos. We compared living ECM in the laser-scanning microscope (LSM) with chemically fixed or cryoimmobilized extracellular matrix in the transmission (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The gel-like structure of living extracellular matrix in the LSM undoubtedly provides the most natural state, whereas shrinkage of the extracellular matrix occurs during conventional fixation and dehydration for TEM or SEM. Among the methods used for fixation and processing of subepidermal extracellular matrices for SEM, plunge-freezing/freeze-drying is to be preferred. Still more satisfying, however, are results obtained with high-pressure frozen/freeze-substituted ECM material in the TEM, for which 10% polyvinyl pyrrolidon +7% methanol was used as a cryoprotectant before high-pressure freezing. In these specimens, no freeze-damage could be observed and they could be regarded as adequately frozen. Conversely, the yield in adequately frozen specimens without cryoprotection was insufficient. In these specimens, the ECM contained honeycomb-like structures which, in the current literature, are regarded as hyaluronan.

Comparison of high-pressure freezing/freeze substitution and chemical fixation of catfish barbel taste buds

The barbel taste buds of catfish are widely used as a model system for investigating the structure and function of vertebrate taste buds. We have examined the ultrastructure of the taste buds of the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, as part of a comparative study of the morphology of taste buds in various mammalian and non-mammalian vertebrates. Since conventional chemical fixation methods have limited usefulness for certain kinds of ultrastructural studies (i.e., localization of diffusible substances or labeling techniques requiring retention of biological activity), we have developed methods for fixing catfish barbel taste buds by high-pressure freezing followed by freeze-substitution (HPF/FS) and have compared the ultrastructure of taste buds fixed by this technique and by chemical fixation procedures. The morphological details of the cells within taste buds are significantly affected by the method of fixation employed. In general, membrane contours are smoother and intracellular organelles more regular in shape in HPF/FS samples as compared with the chemically fixed specimens. Absolute and relative electron-densities of various tissue components are also affected by the fixation method employed. Certain ultrastructural features are more clearly visualized by one or the other of the fixation procedures. Fixation of barbel taste buds by HPF/FS not only provides an alternative view of the ultrastructure of taste bud cells but also offers a method of tissue preparation that may prove to be preferable to chemical methods for ultrastructural investigations involving procedures such as immunohistochemical labeling.

Freeze-fracture, deep-etch, and freeze-substitution studies of olfactory epithelia, with special emphasis on immunocytochemical variables

Freeze-fracturing and deep-etching are a well-suited set of methods to study membrane and cytoplasmic features. Various approaches are available. Possible variables include tissue preparation, fracturing only or fracturing followed by etching, modes and materials of replication, and various ways of combining freeze-fracturing and/or deep-etching with (immuno)cytochemistry. Freeze-substitution, in particular combined with embedding in methacrylate resins such as the Lowicryls, is becoming rather widely accepted for purposes of ultrastructural (immuno)cytochemistry. Most investigators active in this field agree that this combination yields superior results compared to (immuno)cytochemistry combined with more conventional means of thin section transmission electron microscopy. Yet relatively little information is available on the variations that can occur with different approaches of freeze-substitution immunocytochemistry. This review deals with some of the variations in freeze-fracturing, freeze-etching, and freeze-substitution as applied to olfactory epithelial structures and with the effectiveness of observations obtained by application of the above sets of methods in relating the special morphology of olfactory epithelial cellular structures with those obtained by other approaches. Indeed, the data obtained continue to provide an integral image in which that morphology can be related to the special biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, and electrophysiology of olfactory epithelial structures.